Spreadable material container holding device

ABSTRACT

A device for improving the holding of a spreadable material container such as a paint can is disclosed. A device comprises an elongated strip of sheet material having a U shaped portion shaped to cradle a user&#39;s thumb and an opposite hook shaped end portion bent back on itself so as to hook on to one of a wire bail or a rim of a spreadable material container, wherein the container may be easily held by a user&#39;s one hand gripping a bottom of the container with fingers and the user&#39;s thumb cradled in the U shaped portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/054,235, filed Sep. 23, 2014, entitledSpreadable Material Container Holding Device, the contents of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to hand held devices. In particular, itrelates to a holding device for use by a worker such as a painter tohold a conventional container with or without a bail with one hand.

2. State of the Art

There are many types of devices for supporting a conventional paint canor bucket having a wire bail. These are often cumbersome, expensiveand/or bulky and hence many professional painters simply don't use them.Often a painter will utilize a paint can that is preferably abouthalf-full when doing touch up and finish work. Such a painter usuallyholds the can with one hand and utilizes the other to manipulate thebrush. The painter grips the can by placing his/her fingers across itsbottom, hooking his/her thumb around the bail and clamping the cantherebetween.

A major disadvantage with this method of holding a paint can is thatwith a strong grip, after a while, the bail tends to cut off circulationin the holder's thumb and it becomes uncomfortable for the painter tohold the can in this manner. The painter then has to shift the hold toalleviate this pressure from the bail. Thus there is a need for asimple, inexpensive solution to this problem that will be readilyadopted by the painter.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure directly addresses this problem by providing adevice for holding a spreadable material container that simply hooksonto the wire bail or alternatively onto the rim of the container,preferably a liquid holding container such as a commercial paint can orbucket, and provides a comfortably broad surface for a user's thumb suchthat the container may be securely grasped between the bail and acontainer bottom via a user's thumb and fingers. In one embodiment ofthe present disclosure, there is disclosed a device for holding aspreadable material container comprising an elongated strip of sheetmaterial having a U shaped portion shaped to cradle the user's thumb andan opposite hook shaped end portion bent back on itself so as to hook onto one of the wire bail or rim of the spreadable material container,wherein the container may be easily held by a user's one hand gripping abottom of the container with fingers and the user's thumb cradled in theU shaped portion. The sheet material may be selected from one of ametal, a polymer, or a plastic. The device may further include a coatingof vinyl, plastic or rubber on at least the U shaped portion of thedevice that provides comfort to the user's thumb and friction betweenthe device and the container, rim or bail of the container. The devicemay further include a soft material on the U shaped portion to increasecomfort for the user's thumb, wherein the soft material may compriseleather or rubber or silicone.

Another embodiment of the disclosure is a device for holding aspreadable material container that includes an elongated strip of sheetmaterial having a U shaped portion shaped to cradle a user's thumb, andan extended arm portion connecting the U shaped portion to a hookedclamp region designed to receive and attach to a rim of a spreadablematerial container. The container may be easily held by a user's onehand gripping a bottom of the container with fingers and the user'sthumb cradled in the U shaped portion. The clamp region is formed at thetop portion of the device, whereby the end of the extended arm is bentfirst at a nearly right angle and then back on itself at an angle ofless than 90 degrees, in to a hook sized to snap over the rim of acontainer like a clamp. The clamp region further comprises a tabbed endthat preferably pinches against an inside surface of the wall of thecontainer, and which has an end that is angled back towards the insideof the container to allow for easy disengagement from the rim of thecontainer by creating a tab under which a finger may fit to allowrelease of the clamp region from the container. The sheet material maybe selected from one of a metal, a polymer, or a plastic. The device mayfurther include a coating of vinyl, plastic or rubber on at least the Ushaped portion of the device that provides comfort to the user's thumband friction between the device and the container or rim of thecontainer. The device may further include a soft material on the Ushaped portion to increase comfort for the user's thumb, wherein thesoft material may be leather or rubber or silicone.

The device in accordance with this disclosure may be made from a flatsheet material. An advantage of this is that a flat part creates morestability upon contact with the side of container. The device may haverounded edges, particularly in the U shaped region, designed forcomfort. The thumb receiving portion or hook edge is preferably curvedfor comfort and structural integrity and secures the user's hand to thedevice.

The device includes an open hook to accept thumb, and in someembodiments is not enclosed or wrapped by any material. The device iseasily engaged and disengaged, and it permits a user to hold thecontainer with one hand, provides stability when holding with one handand lessens fatigue associated with holding a can with one hand comparedwith other ways that painters hold cans. In some embodiments the devicemay further clip onto a belt allowing for the belt to hold thecontainer.

The device protects a user's hand and arm ligaments, tendons and musclesof the thumb and reduces stress on the wrist, promotes comfort, is noteasily lost and is small and unobtrusive. When the user's hand isengaged with the device in use, the user's hand is in a very similarposition to when the hand is at rest, thus minimizing fatigue.

The device in accordance with this disclosure can be manipulated to fitdifferent hand and thumb sizes. In some embodiments, the device may beadjustable by using materials that can be bent or reshaped to fitdifferent hands and thumb sizes. The device may also have a built-inmechanism for adjusting the shape, a size, a width and/or aconfiguration of the U shaped region to fit different hand and thumbsizes.

In some embodiments, the device may be modified for use by a person withlimited hand mobility to assist the person with grasping an object. Theobject may be an eating or drinking utensil, such as a glass, mug,plate, bowl or piece of stemware. The person may be, for example, ageriatric patient, a handicapped person, a person with a disease or aninjury, or a person with a prosthetic limb. The disease or injury maydirectly or indirectly limit the mobility of the hand. The limited handmobility may be temporary or permanent.

In some embodiments, more than one device may be used on the container.One device may be attached to the bail and another attached to the rimof the same container. In this case, the user may alternate betweenholding the container with either device, further protecting the user'shand and arm ligaments, tendons and muscles of the thumb, and furtherreducing stress on the wrist.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be better understood and objects, other than thoseset forth above, will become apparent when consideration is given to thefollowing detailed description. Such description makes reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a paint can being held by a painterutilizing a first exemplary embodiment of the device in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a paint can being held by a painterutilizing a second exemplary embodiment of a device incorporatingfeatures of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a separate perspective view of a coated device in accordancewith the present disclosure similar to that shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a separate side perspective view of another coated device inaccordance with the present disclosure similar to that shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a more thorough disclosure. It will be apparent,however, to one skilled in the art that the art disclosed may bepracticed without these specific details. In some instances, well-knownfeatures may have not been described in detail so as not to obscure theart disclosed.

Turning now to FIG. 1 of the drawings a typical one gallon paint can 10is being held by a user 12, a painter, utilizing a paint can holdingdevice 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. The holding device100 is an elongated piece of sheet metal bent so as to have a U-shapedend portion 102 for receiving a user's thumb, and a hooked opposite endportion 104 shaped to fit over and clamp to the rim 14 of the paint can10. The user simply grips the can 10 between the bottom 16 of the can 10and the U-shaped end portion 102 of the holder 100 with fingers andthumb respectively. The opposite end portion 104 actually grips the rim14 of the can 10.

An alternative device (“holder”) 200 is shown in FIG. 2. This holder 200again has an end portion 202 and a hooked portion 204, but in thisembodiment the hooked portion is configured to snap over and onto thebail 8 of the paint can 10.

A further embodiment 300, similar to the holder 300 shown in FIG. 2 isshown in a perspective view in FIG. 3. This holding device 300 has a Ushaped portion 302 that is wide enough to accommodate a variety of thumbshapes, and has side edges 303 that are outwardly rounded so as tocomfortably contact the fleshy part of a user's thumb. The U shapedportion 302 merges with a straight portion 304 by bending back on itselfat bend 305. The straight portion 304 terminates at a tip portion 306.This tip portion 306 is preferably uncoated metal. The rest of thedevice, portions 302, 304 and 305 are uniformly coated with a flexiblematerial for user comfort. The flexible material may be, for example,leather, vinyl, plastic or rubber.

Another embodiment of a device 400 in accordance with the presentdisclosure is shown in a side perspective view in FIG. 4. The device 400has a U shaped curved portion 402, an arm portion and a hooked oppositeend clamp portion 404 with a top portion bent first at a right angle andthen back on itself at an angle of less than 90 degrees. This hookedportion is sized to snap over the rim of a paint container like a clamp,that permits easy removal of the device from the container, and has atabbed end 406 that preferably pinches against an inside surface of thewall of the paint container.

The material used for the holders 100, 200, 300 and 400 may be plastic,polymer or metal, but is preferably metal, such as steel. The metal maybe from sheet form preferably of approximately 18-24 gauge thickness.The sheet material is cut preferably to between ½″-1½″ in width stripsand preferably between 4″-12″ in length. The metal is then preferablycoated almost entirely with a vinyl, vinyl polymer, polyvinyl chloride(pvc), plastic or rubber coating. The coated metal is bent or stamped todifferent forms at either end. The top end is bent or stamped preferably1″-4″ from the top end into a tight “U” shape radius of preferably 180°.The bend is larger at the apex with a bend radius of preferably 1/16″-¼″and from the bend returns preferably to almost contacting the oppositesurface of the container. The material toward the top of the bendremains flat and it is preferable to the design it remain flat. From theother end of the material, or bottom, a bend is made preferably 1″-4″from the bottom on a radius of preferably ½″-2″ to preferably 180°. Asoft material may be affixed to the U shaped portion of the device toprovide additional comfort to the user's thumb. The soft material may beleather, vinyl, rubber or silicone.

The holder 200 of FIG. 2 is attached to the handle or bail 8 of abucket, can 10 or container preferably for use with one hand. Preferablythe container is not larger than 2 gallons in capacity. The holder 200in accordance with the present disclosure has a flat section which ispositioned over the handle or bail of the container with the flatsection against the container and seating the bend of the holdersecurely onto the bail or handle of the container 10. The user graspsthe container 10 from the bottom with his or her fingers andsimultaneously places his or her thumb cradled in the open hook portion202 which is positioned against the side of the container 10 andattached to the bail 8 or handle. The flat part of the holder 200 restsagainst the side of the container and the surface area of the flatportion of the holder helps displace pressure against the container asthe holder 200 is engaged by the user. Preferably a coating is appliedover at least the U shaped end portion 102 or 202 of the holder 100 or200. This coating may be vinyl, plastic or rubber and provides comfortfor the user's thumb. The coating on the flat U shaped portion createsfriction as it is engaged by the user.

The user preferably positions the holder 200 at a location somewherealong the bottom half of the bail 8 of the container 10 to thepreference of the user and as it contacts the side of the container 10it preferably does not change position and stays where positioned by theuser from the tension and friction of the coating of the holder 200being engaged by the user. Leverage is created between the thumb restingin the hook portion 202 and the user's fingers 12 resting against thebottom 16 of the container 10 enabling the user to hold the bucket orcan 10 with one hand and leaving the top of the container 10 open andeasily accessible to the other hand, which typically will hold a brush.The user may bend and reshape the hooked end portion thumb hook 202 tofit the user's hand and thumb more precisely for comfort and fit. Theholder 200 or 300 may also be installed and used on any spreadablematerial container such as a rectangular drywall mud tray in a similarmanner to that shown in FIG. 2 except that in that case, the holder 200or 300 is attached to the rim of the mud tray as there is no bail on amud tray.

Accordingly, it is intended that the art disclosed shall be limited onlyto the extent required by the appended claims and the rules andprinciples of applicable law.

We claim:
 1. A device for holding a spreadable material containercomprising: an elongated strip of sheet material having a U shapedportion shaped to cradle a user's thumb and an opposite hook shaped endportion bent back on itself so as to hook on to one of a wire bail or arim of a spreadable material container, whereby the container may beeasily held by a user's one hand gripping a bottom of the container withfingers and the user's thumb cradled in the U shaped portion.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the sheet material may be selected from oneof a metal, a polymer, or a plastic.
 3. The device of claim 1, furthercomprising a coating of vinyl, plastic or rubber on at least the Ushaped portion of the device that provides comfort to the user's thumband friction between the device and the container, rim or bail of thecontainer.
 4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a soft materialon the U shaped portion to provide additional comfort to the user'sthumb, wherein the soft material may comprise leather or rubber orsilicone.
 5. A device for holding a spreadable material containercomprising: an elongated strip of sheet material having a U shapedportion shaped to cradle a user's thumb and an extended arm portionconnecting the U shaped portion to a hooked clamp region for engaging arim of a spreadable material container, whereby the container may beeasily held by a user's one hand gripping a bottom of the container withfingers and the user's thumb cradled in the U shaped portion.
 6. Thedevice of claim 5, wherein the sheet material may be selected from oneof a metal, a polymer, or a plastic.
 7. The device of claim 5, furthercomprising a coating of vinyl, plastic or rubber on at least the Ushaped portion of the device that provides comfort to the user's thumband friction between the device and the container or rim of thecontainer.
 8. The device of claim 5, further comprising a soft materialon the U shaped portion to provide additional comfort to the user'sthumb, wherein the soft material may comprise leather or rubber orsilicone.